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KINGFISHER
NEWS UPDATE 23RD MAY 2010
THE
FISHING IS GOOD AND THE WEATHER ISNT TO BAD AT ALL SO
WHY ISNT THERE MORE FISHING AT THIS TIME OF YEAR?
Dear
All,
Looking
back at the past updates I noticed that we have gone over
a month since my last one so it is time I let you all
know what is going on here. Some of you may be wondering
what there is to write about in the middle of the off
season. It wasn’t so long ago that we used to shut
down the whole operation come the end of April and not
start again until the beginning of July. This was because
practically all hotels closed down and it was rare to
see a tourist roaming the streets. However, times have
changed as more and more hotels stay open and more and
more people want to go fishing. Although we have had a
lot of rain since the 1st April we have also had periods
of good sunshine. Most hotels are offering low rates due
to the weather so most tourists come prepared for the
weather.
We
have had 22.5 inches of rain so far since the 1st April.
This is already more than we had in the whole of April-May-June
last year. Many parts of the country have suffered severe
flooding and one of the worst hit areas is the Tana Delta
as the Tana River has burst its banks. Western Kenya has
also been hit badly and many lives have been lost due
to the flooding. The good news is that the country has
now got ample food supplies after years of drought.
All
is well here in Malindi. Mum is recovering well and can
walk small distances without her crutches. Hopefully it
won’t be long before she can venture out again and
you will all be seeing her down at the club. Three of
the boats are out of the water at the fisheries having
all sorts of things done to them and they are coming on
well. The rain does make painting rather difficult but
we are getting there. Neptune and Snark are still in the
water and doing quite a bit of fishing. Angus is off to
the UK at the end of the week to inspect Neptunes new
engines before they are sent out here. He will be there
for two weeks and then I will be going over at the end
of June.
Snark
has been out eight times since the beginning of May and
Neptune five times. The fishing has been very good and
we haven’t had to cancel any days due to weather.
The boats have come back with sailfish on most of the
days they have been out and quite a number of giant trevally,
wahoo, kingfish and tuna as well as other bits and pieces
have been caught. Snark had two sailfish on the 1st and
4th May as well as some small fish. Neptune had a very
good day on the 7th. She was out with an angler from Gibraltar,
John Gonzalez, who was here a few years ago fishing in
the EFSA championships. This time he had come out with
his wife and was staying in Mombasa so he decided to come
to Malindi for a couple of days and go out fishing although
he had heard it was “off season”. Their first
day was on the 5th and they tagged a sailfish and came
back with 2 wahoo,7 tuna,1 barracuda,9 dorado,1 kingfish
and a whole load of bait. On the 7th they had another
action filled day. In the morning they got a very nice
sailfish of 34 kgs and a 13 kg yellowfin as well as some
smaller yellowfin and Dorado. At mid day they had a live
frigate mackerel taken by a good sized black marlin which
they managed to tag relatively quickly but unfortunately
the fish was still green and it went down again. Alas,
as is so often the case on the “banks”, the
marlin was attacked by bull sharks and they took over
a quarter of the fish. The remains weighed in at 83 kgs.It
is such a shame that a magnificent fish should end up
like that. Neptune fished a short day on the 11th with
Richard Moller and Royan Taylor and they had action throughout
the day. They ended up with five sailfish, 1 wahoo, 1
giant trevally, 1 kingfish, 4 dorado, and some bait fish.
Snark
had another two sailfish on the 21st and 2 wahoo and 2
dorado on the 22nd.
So
as you can see the fishing is still very good and we hope
to continue to pick up the odd day here and there until
it really picks up in mid July.
Bookings
are looking very good for next season, November through
to March is filling up fast so those of you who are thinking
of coming then please book ASAP.
I
hope those of you are in Europe are enjoying the sunshine
and are making the most of it. It is pouring with rain
again outside as I write this update and I think it is
time we got some sunshine here to!
Until
the next update take care.
Adrian
REVIEW
2009\10 SEASON
(Download
Kingfisher_Season Review_200910.doc)
Once
again we have come to the end of another season. Life
here at kingfisher is quite different to what it was
a few months ago. Early mornings and hectic days have
been replaced by lie in's and a much more sedate pace
of life. Three of the five boats are out of the water
at the fisheries having their annual manicure and
pedicure and most of the crew are on their well deserved
annual leave. The weather is doing just as it should
do in the "off season", we have had eleven
inches of rain since the beginning of April
which is just what the doctor ordered after months
of drought. The outside temperature is dropping daily
and before too long we will be needing jerseys and
sweat shirts in the evenings which is not the Malindi
most of you know.
I suppose the big development of the "off season"
will be the purchase of new engines for Neptune. We
hope to have them here by the beginning of august
and we hope that they will enhance her performance.
As
we have slowed down we have had time to ponder over the
season gone by and what a season it has been! At the start
of the season in July we all thought that we would be
in for a tough season fish wise due to the amazing one
we had in 2008\9. Unsurpassed Sailfish figures and incredible
Marlin action in the latter part of the year made us all
think that we would never see a season like it again.
Neptune caught an amazing 750 sailfish in 2008\9 with
an average of 4.6 per day. It was common for boats to
come back with double figures throughout the season. The
Marlin season was the best ever with January-March producing
unheard of figures.
How
could it ever get any better we asked ourselves? Well
how wrong we were!
Although
our boats fished a few days in the off season months of
may and June with surprisingly good results the season
kicked of properly in July. As is always the case we never
fish enough days in July\August. The fishing can be very
exciting as the style of fishing is different to most
other months. This is partly because it is very rough
and the only semi secluded area is on the Watamu banks
and secondly due to rough water and strong current the
banks can be alive with bait fish. The most used method
of fishing is live baiting Frigate Mackerel and Kawa-Kawa
and you just never know what predator will come along
next.
July
last year lived up to all expectations and a number
of black marlin were caught as well as Giant Trevally,
Wahoo, Kingfish, Tuna etc. Neptune fished 15 days in July
last year and had 5 Black Marlin and 42 Sailfish. Sailfish
appeared in large numbers for this time of year and one
day she had 9. Some of the Marlin around were a good size,
Neptune had some good fish on and weighed one of 148 kgs
which unfortunately came in dead.
After
such good fishing on the banks in July we all thought
August would also be good which is so often the
case but alas it wasn't to be so as the Watamu banks died
off somewhat. Infact most of our days were fished of Malindi
where quite a few Sailfish were showing. All five of our
boats were ready and fishing in august which must be a
first. Bernd and Marc Neufeldt came for ten days at the
end of august to fish for Shark. They had some hefty strikes
but unfortunately none stuck.
September
has always been a difficult month to fill and this one
was no exception. Although we did very few days the fishing
was good. Our boats fished off Malindi and there was a
surprisinglyhigh amount of Black Marlin about as well
as Sailfish. Angus' son Arran caught his first Black Marlin
just before going back to school so he was one happy boy.
We did a few excursions out to the North Kenya banks looking
for Yellowfin and were very successful on all occassions.
On the first trip Neptune with peter Hoffmann caught 28
Yellowfin, the biggest weighing in at 37 kgs. It was not
quite as good as we have seen it out there but not to
far off. Fishing out there for those big Yellowfin is
very exciting and we hope that this year will be even
better and we'll have the clients to go out there with.
October
is normally the start of the main Sailfish season at the
beginning of the month anyone who didn't know better would
have thought they were being conned as the month started
very slowly with very few fish showing. Then on the 10th
Tina out on a short day found a lot of fish off Malindi.
They were in by 2 pm with five Sail and some small fish.
The fishing turned on at the right time as we were busy
for the rest of the month with some big groups. Although
we didn't see any huge numbers boats were coming back
with 5 or so red flags on most days. The October festival
was called the Herbie Paul international tournament and
was very generously sponsored by Mike Tracy. It was a
great success and Neptune taking top honors made it even
better for us.
November
was a very busy month for us. It started very well with
the holding of the 15th Driftwood Extravaganza. Once again
we had a big group from South Africa come and participate
over the four days. Neptune went up to Kiwayu on their
annual boys fishing trip but surprisingly the fishing
wasn't too good up there. Nevertheless a lot of fun and
games were had! The fishing got quite difficult towards
the end of November. The sea was very calm and flat and
although the fish were there in big numbers they were
not playing game.
December
was how we normally expect November to be so i suppose
everything was a bit late this year. By mid December the
Sailfish fishing was really hot with boats catching up
to ten fish a day. Off Malindi there were also quite a
few black marlin swanning around. The sea was calm and
the weather hot so anglers couldn't really have asked
for anymore. On the 17th Snark had two Black Marlin and
a Sailfish and Eclare one Black and five Sailfish around
Christmas time fishing went up another gear and boats
were catching up to fifteen Sailfish a day. Neptune had
a group out jigging and angus did a few days on the NKB
where they caught a lot of Amberjack, Grouper and Snapper.
Towards the end of the month the vast amounts of Sailfish
were being joined by Striped Marlin close in around the
boiling pot which is un heard of as usually Stripeys are
in the deep water on the rips.
The Stripeys kept on increasing in numbers into January
whilst the Sailfish numbers didn't let up either. Boats
were raising packs of small Stripeys and triple headers
were not uncommon. Lindsay Casserley a regular angler
from South Africa fished eight days with us and caught
5 Striped Marlin,4 Blue Marlin, one Black Marlin and 27
Sailfish. Harry and Herald Vanieperen broke the record
for the most Marlin caught in a day off Malindi \ Watamu
with seven Striped Marlin while fishing on Tina:
Not
to be out done by the old lady of the sea Snark who caught
eight Stripeys in a day with Peter Boke on the 24th. Grand
slams were being caught left right and centre and Neptune
had a Super Grand Slam on the 30th. Fishing with Les Mcbride
and Tony Voss they caught 1 Black, 1 Blue, 2 Striped marlin
and a Sailfish. In eight days fishing they had 20 Marlin
and 17 sailfish.
January 2010 can most definitely go down as the best Marlin
month ever. Our five boats caught 122 Marlin and 225 Sailfish
between them.
February,
historically our best Marlin month had a lot to live up
to after the previous month. Numbers wise this was going
to be nearly impossible but the fishing was still very
good and some bigger fish were caught. We had a big Belgium
group fishing at the beginning of the month. They had
some very good fishing with all anglers catching at least1
billfish and most catching Marlin:
Egon
Jenke caught a Super Grand Slam on Eclare on the 8th\9th.part
of the slam was a 150 kg + Blue Marlin. On the 15th Eclare
produced again for Con Jooste who caught a Grand Slam
on fly;
a Broadbill, Striped Marlin and Sailfish.
Clive
Watts tagged a lovely Black Marlin of 600 + lbs on the
25th. Late in the month the fishing suddenly went very
quiet on the rips where the majority of the marlin are
caught at this time of year. As is so often the case in
our fishing community the skippers didn't just sit back
and wait for something to happen. A bit of exploring was
done and a lot of fish were found another fifteen to twenty
miles outside the rips which is about forty miles from
Watamu. It seems the warm water line had pushed out and
there were a lot of fish holding there. Neptune had 14
Sailfish with John Cook on the 27th and 2 Striped Marlin
and 4 Sailfish on the 28th. All in all it was a very busy
and good February for us. It is the month for repeat clients
who have become more like friends after so many years
and it was wonderful to see so many warm and friendly
faces.
March
is my favorite month of all. It is the month of big
fish and can be very exciting. This March was even more
exceptional than normal as the fishing continued right
up to the end of the month. Usually the fishing will dwindle
off in the middle of the month when the monsoon changes
into the south again but this year it just kept on going
and going. What was amazing this year was the amount of
big Blues about as well as Blacks. Quite often blues have
moved of by march but this year was not so. Mick Reid
and a group of friends visited us once again and what
good fishing they had. On the 7th part of the group were
on Eclare fishing out of Watamu. They hadn`t seen much
by the afternoon and then on the way in their luck changed.
They had three Black Marlin up together which is very
unusual in itself, two came of and after a good hours
fight they landed one which came in dead. It weighed in
at 145 kgs. The other group on Neptune had 4 Stripeys.
On the 9th Rick Lemonnier, Don Lafferty and Andy Demare
started their annual five day trip. It started slowly
for them. The plan was to fish up north to Lamu for five
days but after not seeing a lot after the first day up
there they fished back to Watamu and fished the rest of
the days there. What a good decision it was as they had
some fantastic fishing. The 11th was one of the best days
of the season for Neptune. They tagged a big Striped Marlin
of 160 lbs early and then hooked into a nice Blue. They
successfully tagged and released it estimating it at 350
lbs. Not long after don hooked a very reasonable Black
Marlin. It gave them a hard time but eventually they got
a tag into it and it swam of to fight another day. This
fish was estimated at 450 lbs. They missed out on a Sailfish
for the Super Grand Slam: what a day!
The
very next day Andy tagged and released a Blue which Angus
estimated at 550 lbs+.
The
Penn Challenge 2010 fished by anglers from Holland and
Belgium was held on the 12th for 4 days. Ten boats took
part and what incredible fishing they had. Snark on the
third day of the tournament showed that speed isn't everything.
Fishing with Jan Maas and Frans van Bachel they opted
to stay in close as Snark doesn't have the speed to get
out to the rips fast like the other boats. They came home
with 2 Black Marlin and 16 Sailfish tagged and released.
This was enough for Jan and Frans to win the tournament.
Tina tagged a nice Black of 450 lbs + on the same day
and most of the boats caught at least one Marlin each.
It really was phenomenal fishing.
Eclare caught the fish of the season for our boats on
the 23rd march. Fishing with the Olivier party from Holland
they landed a beautiful Blue of 779lbs.Unfortunately they
fought the fish for six hours and it came in dead.
Neptune
caught one the same day of 400 lbs and Snowgoose one of
250 lbs. Snowgoose lost a very big fish with Perez Vanneste
the day before. It totally spooled them on 80 lb line.
Alleycat tagged and released a Blue a few days before
of around 800 lbs as did clueless so the big mamas were
definitely about!
I
have just scratched the surface in trying to describe
this past season and could make a book if i were to mention
all the good days and feats accomplished. Both Tarka and
Neptune caught 100 plus Marlin this season which is a
first for the north coast. Let's hope next season is as
good! Bookings are looking good for next season already
so hopefully it will be a busy one.
Salaams
to all from us here at kingfisher and we hope to see as
many of you as possible in the 2010\11 season.
Adrian
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